Pragya Thakur, who was BJP's candidate for Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, on Thursday praised Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "patriot", sparking an outrage from the Opposition.

Under fire for her remarks, Pragya Thakur apologised later and said she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten.

In a tweet, Kapil Sibal tweeted, "When Sadhvi Pragya says: "Godse a Deshbakht" and PM Modi is silent with Vidyasagar's statue a victim of the violent. I can only pray for my country and hope that one day the silent majority will keep violence at bay".

When Sadhvi Pragya says :

“ Godse a Deshbakht “

and Modi is silent

with Vidyasagar's statue

a victim of

the violent

I can only pray for my countryand hope that one daythe silent majoritywill keep violence at bay

Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also condemned Pragya Thakur's remarks and said Godse was inspired by RSS ideology.

"Godse was inspired by Sangh Pariwar's ideology and so is Pragya. Former killed our Mahatma and the latter killed Mahatma's children. Pragya who calls Godse a patriot is endorsed by @narendramodi Is this the sign of an attempt to proliferate Sangh's hatred based ideology," he tweeted